Related papers: Accurate uncertainty estimation in crowded fields:…
Nowadays, tens of satellites carry hyperspectral spectrometers. Such instruments allow decomposing the light that exits the atmosphere from its top into hundreds to thousands of contiguous spectral channels. By analysis of the light…
We present a detailed discussion of how to obtain precise stellar photometry in crowded fields using images from multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) systems, with the intent of informing the scientific development of this key technology…
Star test polarimetry is an imaging polarimetry technique in which an element with spatially-varying birefringence is placed in the pupil plane to encode polarization information into the point-spread function (PSF) of an imaging system. In…
Astrometry is one of the oldest branches of astronomy which measures the position, the proper motion and parallax of celestial objects. Following the Hipparcos and Gaia missions that have measured several billions of them using global…
In most star formation history (SFH) measurements, the reported uncertainties are those due to effects whose sizes can be readily measured: Poisson noise, adopted distance and extinction, and binning choices in the solution itself. However,…
A main science goal for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is to measure the cosmic shear signal from weak lensing to extreme accuracy. One difficulty, however, is that with the short exposure time ($\simeq$15 seconds) proposed, the…
Integral field spectroscopy can map astronomical objects spatially and spectroscopically. Due to instrumental and atmospheric effects, it is common for integral field instruments to yield a sampling of the sky image that is both irregular…
Spectral retrieval techniques are currently our best tool to interpret the observed exoplanet atmospheric data. Said techniques retrieve the optimal atmospheric components and parameters by identifying the best fit to an observed…
The point-spread function (PSF) of an imaging system describes the response of the system to a point source. Accurately determining the PSF enables one to correct for the combined effects of focussing and scattering within the imaging…
An important requirement for the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) is to carry out precision astrometry in crowded fields. This capability is crucial, for example, to accurately measure proper motions of bright stars in nearby galaxies.…
Optimal estimation of signal amplitude, background level, and photocentre location is crucial to the combined extraction of astrometric and photometric information from focal plane images, and in particular from the one-dimensional…
We present the implementation and use of algorithms for matching point-spread functions (PSFs) within the Pan-STARRS Image Processing Pipeline (IPP). PSF-matching is an essential part of the IPP for the detection of supernovae and…
A multi-domain spectral method for computing very high precision 3-D stellar models is presented. The boundary of each domain is chosen in order to coincide with a physical discontinuity (e.g. the star's surface). In addition, a…
Eclipsing binaries provide one of the most direct mechanisms for measuring stellar properties such as mass and radius, but historically, determining these properties has been non-trivial and computationally prohibitive. As such, only a…
A point spread function (PSF) describes the distribution of light for a pure point source in an astronomical image due to the optics of the instrument. An accurate PSF is key for deconvolution, point source photometry and source removal.…
Obtaining reliable, matched photometry for galaxies imaged by different observatories represents a key challenge in the era of wide-field surveys spanning more than several hundred square degrees. Methods such as flux fitting, profile…
Large direct-imaging surveys usually use a template-fitting technique to estimate photometric redshifts for galaxies, which are then applied to derive important galaxy properties such as luminosities and stellar masses. These estimates can…
The ultimate goal of the "Pi of the Sky" apparatus is observation of optical flashes of astronomical origin and other light sources variable on short timescales. We search mainly for optical emission of Gamma Ray Bursts, but also for…
We investigate the ellipticity of the point-spread function (PSF) produced by imaging an unresolved source with a telescope, subject to the effects of atmospheric turbulence. It is important to quantify these effects in order to understand…
The cosmological exploitation of modern photometric galaxy surveys requires both accurate (unbiased) and precise (narrow) redshift probability distributions derived from broadband photometry. Existing methodologies do not meet those…